In 1864, Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought a small brewery in Amsterdam (NL) where he started brewing a classic pale ale. By incorporating the latest innovations of the time, the brewery quickly became the world's leading producer, equipped with a sophisticated laboratory for quality control. It was a successful business that not only offered high-quality beer to the city of Amsterdam, but also contributed to the well-being and development of its citizens.
160 years have passed and, since then, that small brewery has come a long way. Today, Heineken has more than 160 production sites in more than 70 countries, producing more than 200 million hectolitres of beer under 250 brands. Innovation and research have been pillars throughout its evolution, and even today the company looks to the future with an extremely competitive and environmentally sustainable vision, with goals and initiatives that involve every aspect of the company's operations and processes.
It is therefore not surprising that the Robopac and OCME names appear in this production chain renowned for efficiency and quality. A collaboration started in 1998 with the Italian factory in Borgonuovo (BG), which is still fully functioning today and is mainly used for bottling.
Aetna Group is one of the leading global players in end-of-line packaging, with solutions designed specifically for the beverage industry. This is thanks to an industrial policy that has always given top priority to the effectiveness of its machinery in terms of production rate and sustainability, as well as to its community and customers and their various needs. With a One Global Company philosophy, the Group then spread its technological value around the world thanks to its tailor-made and market-specific support.
At the heart of this collaboration is Heineken's need to improve the packaging process efficiency and speed to meet growing market demand. Furthermore, over the past few years, the wrapping area has been optimised to make it even more competitive.
In line with this objective, Aetna Group has proposed the implementation of 2 OCME-branded Altair case packers, which join 2 others already installed since 1998.
This is the pride and joy, in terms of packaging, for the Parma-based BU, which has put its stamp on this operating segment since 1964. With Altair, high speed, efficiency and precision are combined to produce a compact and thin carton, designed to hold products securely with a hot-melt glue seal. The solution chosen by Heineken has a production capacity of up to 60 cartons/minute and is characterised by great flexibility, which makes it suitable for packaging multiple containers (plastic, glass, round, square, oval, etc.) and diversified packaging (easy-to-open cartons, trays, etc.), making it the winning proposal for different product sectors.
With the two Altair machines, OCME consolidates its presence at Heineken, which already boasted other packaging machines, as well as for the transport and handling of the pallets that connect the various end-of-line machines, in addition to top-down palletising with Orion HM technology.
Aetna Group is also at the forefront of wrapping operations with Robopac supplies.
Notably, 2 Genesis high-speed automatic rotating ring wrapping machines equipped with patented Cube Level 2 variable pre-stretch technology were recently supplied. Robopac's patent provides for the rotation of the pre-stretch rollers by means of independent brushless motors and a system of satellite rings and belts, without the need for sliding contacts or power transmission on the pre-stretch carriage. This guarantees very high reliability and minimum TCO. At the same time, it allows excellent wrapping quality and load stabilisation with the highest possible film savings.
The synergy between Aetna Group and Heineken has proven to be a key element in the pursuit of operational excellence.
Robopac and OCME's experience in the beverage sector and shared values such as quality, innovation and sustainable growth have laid the foundations for a lasting and pioneering partnership.
